Yikes! Didn't know silicone could do this!

[JessiBird89]

Hi, all! I'm growing out hair dye, trying to get my hair all natural and grow down to tailbone length so I can donate my hair. Anywho, I was toying with the idea of using ColourB4 and I was doing some research. The creator of the product, Scott Cornwall is very active in answering questions online for people who had problems using the product or want to know how to use it. He does so on his facebook page and twitter but I also found him on different forums. In this thread on thestudentroom.co.uk, he mentions that a lot of dyes have an excessive amount of silicone and when heating tools are used on the hair after dyeing, it causes the silicone to melt into the hair, permanently. It makes sense I guess, but it's scary! My poor hair! Here's the link where it's mentioned, though he went into detail in another forum and i can't seem to find it:

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1056768&page=5

You may have to scroll down to find it.

[rock007junkie]

It kind of makes sense if you think about it. Heat makes hair to be more porous. I could see how repeated use of silicones and heat would cause this.

[Neneka]

I have read that too. From colour B4 package. Quite frightening...

[heidi w.]

Lots of LHC people are against the use of -cones for one reason or another. Some people silicones work well for, such as myself.

But then, again, I don't color my hair either, nor use any heat of any sort, ever.

heidi w.

[luxepiggy]

Silicone does not melt into hair. In fact, it is an excellent thermal protectant that limits hair damage during heat styling.

[amberpotamus]

I know there are many different kinds of silicones and all, and they could theoretically have very different melting points, but the fact that you can buy bakeware made of silicone really makes me question the likelihood of the heat from any sort of hair styling tool being enough to melt silicone into hair when spending 30 minutes in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven doesn't melt silicone into food.

[cmg]

Flattening irons reach 130 - 230 degrees C!!!

Anything that is heated up is more likely to react with the environment. Some silicones even start to disintegrate at 200 degrees C. The low-molecular weight and cyclic siloxanes for example will evaporate sooner and others will act heavier and start depositing on treated surfaces.

There was a test done in Sweden or for Swedish consumers some years ago that established that the temperature was exceedingly high for some flattening irons, and many were alot hotter than they said they would be. They had to be altered to be safer. In other words, you cannot say for sure how hot your iron is.

Silicones can at room temperature be anything from solid substances to oily fluids that can evaporate. Example siloxanes, a group of silicones:
(Polydimetylsiloxan, PDMS, dimetylsiloxan, silicone, silicone oil, dimetylpolysiloxan, E 900, Dimethicone, Cyclodimethicone, D4 etc):

They can be colourless liquids in room temperature. Melting points at minus 50 C or up to below +17,5 degrees C, boiling point fex 175,8 degrees C and disintegrating starts at somewhere above 200 degrees C. (Some dont have any boiling point for chemical reasons, or they change into porous glass or disintegrate, and some dont have any melting point either because they cannot exist in liquid form).

The highest melting point/disintegrating point I could find for any silicone was somewhere around +250 degrees C. Baking containers are said to withstand 300 degrees C for a short while and if they are not placed on a plate but on a grid. This does not mean the whole pot reaches this temperature.

In other words: Some of the flattening irons can definitively reach boiling points for some silicones. On the other hand, silicones are considered thermicly stable and therefore used as hydraulic oils and transmission fluids fex, or as softener for silicone isolation glues in building business and so on. I have used a lot of these substances in my hobbies. I find they are stable and dont react much to high temperatures or UV when left alone but can start sticking to other surfaces when "provoked" like accidentally touched with a heat-pistol or some such. The can start stick to the skin in a very unpleasant manner (hot!). I havent tried my heating iron on the silicone. I dont think I want to. Would you use a flattening iron on your stay-ups?

Sorry for the long post

/ CMG

[cmg]

Silicone does not melt into hair. In fact, it is an excellent thermal protectant that limits hair damage during heat styling.
True, but judgeing from the content of the two products from LOreal I had at home, that operative window is very narrow. I wouldnt place too much trust on this. In combination with interaction time and malfunctioning thermostats in the irons, boiling/evaporating water in the hair etc. the risk for damage is merely a matter of time before it happens. :o

/ CMG

[Rosetta]

In this thread on thestudentroom.co.uk, he mentions that a lot of dyes have an excessive amount of silicone and when heating tools are used on the hair after dyeing, it causes the silicone to melt into the hair, permanently.
Well, in that case it's the fault of heating tools, not silicone... So imo the title is a bit misleading, silicones haven't actually "done" anything here.


(Good thing I never use heating tools ;))

[JessiBird89]

Sorry! By 'do this' I meant 'melt into the hair' :o, I didn't mean to be misleading. I don't use heating tools anymore but I used to while using hair dye and it explains a lot about the damage at the ends of my hair. I remember how synthetic my hair felt after I'd dye it and then straighten it! Yuck!

[faellen]

I thought I'd do a bit more research into this, and so far can only find stuff written by Scott Cornwall / Colour B4. Anyone find any other sources?